<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>I Am This Also by bedtimefanfic</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23387332">I Am This Also</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bedtimefanfic/pseuds/bedtimefanfic'>bedtimefanfic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DCU (Comics), Justice League &amp; Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Coming Out, Friendship, Gen, Trans Character, Trans J'onn J'onzz, clark shows j'onn earth stuff, i've written this summary a dozen times and so for now there's just an exerpt, j'onn and clark are best bros, made up martian culture, maybe one day i'll write a real summary, not really part of the story but it's there</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:27:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,077</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23387332</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bedtimefanfic/pseuds/bedtimefanfic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're still my friend, it doesn't change that for me because you're not a man. Okay? I don't want to distance myself at all." He tentatively laid a hand on J'onn's shoulder, wanting to back up his reassurances.<br/>For the first time during this conversation, J'onn's face seemed to relax and he seemed almost amused. "There's been a mistake," he said and Clark tilted his head in invitation to elaborate.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>J'onn J'onzz &amp; Clark Kent</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I Am This Also</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They were sitting on a ledge overlooking Yellowstone. Clark had shown J'onn the geysers and hot springs and bison earlier in the day, but now J’onn had rid himself of his human disguise again. It was quiet and peaceful, though he listened to the sounds of the animals and distant hikers like a comforting white noise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clark could tell something was troubling the Martian. He was more serious than usual, in a worried way rather than a contently stoic way. "Do you want to talk about it?" Clark asked him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>J'onn sighed almost inaudibly. "You're correct in guessing that something is bothering me," he said. "I've been thinking about something that happened in one of our most recent battles."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Which one?" Clark asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The one with Grodd and Giganta," J'onn answered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clark was confused. The gorillas had been relatively easy to defeat; the League had been working together well that day. "Okay, what about it?" he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I stopped to help some bystanders who had gotten trapped by debris," J'onn explained. "And one of them was wearing a shirt with a symbol I didn't recognize on it. She told me it was to show transgender pride."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clark nodded, an idea of where this was going forming in his mind. "I see," he said. "And you didn't know what that meant."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not at first," J'onn said. "I used the Internet to research the term, however."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay, so what's still bothering you?" Clark asked, once more at a loss.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I found during my reading that ..." He took a deep breath. "This term applies to me." Clark's eyebrows rose in surprise for a moment before he, at superspeed, returned his face to a normal expression. He wrapped his arm around J’onn’s shoulders for a moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Is there any way I can help?" he asked, smiling encouragingly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thank you for your support," J'onn said, looking confused. "I don't require help, however." Clark cleared his throat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay," he said. "Which pronouns do you use, or should I call you?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now J'onn looked like he had started speaking another language. "Continuing to use male pronouns is preferred," he said after a second.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay, that's completely fine, too," Clark assured J'onn, even if the direction of this conversation continued to be surprising. He'd had people come out to him before, usually kids who just wanted to tell Superman when they couldn't trust their parents or peers. But J'onn was a Martian. Unexpected came with the territory.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Is there anything I should change?" he asked. "About how I address you? Or how I act towards you?" He felt guilty that something he did would make J'onn feel dysphoric, but he would do anything to fix that now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I wish you wouldn't change," J'onn said, voice suddenly a touch sadder. "I appreciate our friendship the way it is. But if you must distance yourself, I will respect that." Clark's eyes widened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, no!" he was quick to correct. "You're still my friend, it doesn't change that for me because you're not a man. Okay? I don't want to distance myself at all." He tentatively laid a hand on J'onn's shoulder, wanting to back up his reassurances.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For the first time during this conversation, J'onn's face seemed to relax and he seemed almost amused. "There's been a mistake," he said and Clark tilted his head in invitation to elaborate. "I am a man," J'onn explained. "Being ... transgender ... is different for a Martian than a human. I, as I believe you would say, transitioned as a child."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clark's mind fantastically did a 180 in a matter of moments. "All right," he said, catching up. "So you're male. I should keep thinking of you as I always have?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Correct."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clark smiled at his friend fondly. "Thanks for trusting me," he said. "It means a lot."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course," J'onn said. "You're my closest friend on Earth. I wanted you to be the one I ... come out from a closet ... with?" His tone and expression conveyed uncertainty about the terms he used.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clark beamed, chest warm with happiness that J'onn thought of him as his </span>
  <em>
    <span>closest</span>
  </em>
  <span> friend. "Close enough," he said in evaluation of the Martian's Earth slang. "And I really mean it, I'm honored that you trusted me with this." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>J'onn was visibly more relieved but said, "Of course. But it is not an </span>
  <em>
    <span>important</span>
  </em>
  <span> secret. I wasn't even aware it was a secret until last week."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm sure that everyone else would also be okay with it if you ever decide to tell them," Clark said, sure of that fact himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I will consider it," J'onn said. They sat and watched the gentle movement of the trees for a few minutes in silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You don't have to answer," Clark said casually. "But what did you mean when you said it's different for Martians?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>J'onn looked at him for a moment. "Martians are </span>
  <em>
    <span>shapeshifters</span>
  </em>
  <span>," he said simply. Clark laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course you are," he said, still laughing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I merely chose which form I wished to take once my powers developed," J'onn explained. "My birth form was of no consequence at that point."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What about socially?" Clark asked, curious. "No problems there?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I was not so unusual," J'onn said, shrugging. "And there was no stigma, as our minds could touch and see the honesty of each other's identities." He sounded wistful for a moment there, grieving for that connection that no other friendship, no matter how close, could provide.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I suppose I should have considered that, too," Clark said. J'onn shrugged again, melancholy gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You are teaching me so much about Earth," he said. "It's only fair I share with you some of my culture, as well."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clark was about to say that he'd like to hear more sometime, but both of their League signals beeped just then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's Despero," Wonder Woman's voice said over the link. "Rendezvous at the Watchtower."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And quickly," Batman added.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was overlapping conversation between Flash, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman for a moment before Clark said that he and J'onn were on their way and Hawkgirl raised her voice to address Flash and Batman told them all to keep the shared line clear for instructions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With the League still mostly carrying on their discussion in his ear, Clark couldn't help but feel closer to J'onn as they flew up to the Watchtower. Regardless of what he said, Clark sensed that his friend still had worried about it. Hopefully that burden had now been lifted.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>